Super Smash Bros: Gathering of the Heroes
by GoldAngel1
Summary: Master Hand breaks free and decides to cause chaos that'll put the entire universe in jeopardy. The only thing standing in his way is a group of heroes. Chapter 4 is up!
1. Prologue: And So It Begins

Disclaimer: All of the characters from Super Smash Bros. don't belong to me but to their respective companies. The only character I own is Arianna. She isn't the main character, but she does play a minor role in all of this. 

Super Smash Bros.: Gathering of the Heroes 

Prologue 

The universe is split up into different wolds. The entrances to these worlds were found in the form of portals in a neutral world called Nexia. Arianna was the Guardian of the Portals; she made sure that nothing from any of the other worlds escaped and tried to wreak havoc on all the other worlds. Sound exciting? Not really. She had been trained to deal with any sort of creature and had powerful fighting skills, but recently there had been nothing special. 

Arianna was what you would call a 'god'. Technically she was immortal and could enter the worlds in any form she pleased to interfere when she saw fit, but when she entered a world, she would become a mortal. The cool thing was that if she died, it would only be that mortal form that died, not her. 

No abnormal activity, no bad guys that needed butt-kicking. Yep, it was just another day. 

~~~~ 

It floated in an endless void of space, banished there for all eternity. It existed as a dark cloud of evil but could take on the form of a white gloved hand. It lied in wait on a giant, rotating platform pondering. 

_Why am I here? Why do I even exist?! The universe should have been mine! Those so called Guardians of the portals sealed me in this accursed dimension so I could not escape, but I will have my revenge. I. . . I must get out. I MUST GET OUT!!_

__

__It pounded the stone floor of the platform. What would It do once It escaped? It could toy around with the lives of others and manipulate them to do as he wished. Yes, that's what It would do. It would gather the most powerful warriors to help him take over the universe, and none shall stop him! 

~~~~ 

Arianna was finishing up some reports that would be recorded for later. 

"Let's see." She said thoughtfully, running a hand through her brown hair. "The Mushroom Kingdom seems to be doing fine; the Mario Brothers have beaten Bowser once again!" She looked down at her notes once again. 

"Hyrule is safe, DK Isle seems OK, the universe of the Metroid. . .should be fine, for now." At that moment she heard a rumbling sound coming from a sealed doorway. "Uh oh. . ." 

Out of the sealed portal came a giant, gloved hand. Arianna grabbed her weapon, a small magical staff with a crystal adorned on the top, and prepared for battle. "Who are you?!" She demanded. 

The hand turned to her. "I do not wish to fight you, pathetic child. But should you defy me, I will take action." It paused. "If you must know, I have no real name but you may call me Master Hand. You have something that I am interested in." 

Master Hand made a move towards Arianna. She quickly brought down the staff in a wide arc mimicking a sword slash and creating a crescent wave of energy. The blast didn't even phase the oversized glove. Master Hand flew towards her at blinding speeds. Expecting a blow to come, she braced herself. She looked up and saw him perform a corkscrew before crashing into her and knocking her into the wall unconscious. 

Master hand found what he was looking for. The staff. The Staff of Power would allow him to open all of the portals and cause chaos among the worlds. It would also allow him to obtain great power. He grabbed the staff and allowed it to shrink and wrap around his finger like a ring. The staff radiated a bright light as he opened one of the portals and flew into it. 

Arianna had just recovered from the blow Master Hand had given her and had seen what he done. "Oh no." She said fearfully. "With that staff, who knows what he could do! I must stop him before he destroys the entire universe!" 

Then she chased after him into the portal he had opened. She didn't know what Master Hand was planning to do, but no matter what, she had to put a stop to it. Or else they were all doomed. __

__


	2. Chapter 1: Mama Mia!

Disclaimer: All of the characters from Super Smash Bros. don't belong to me but to their respective companies. The only character I own is Arianna. She isn't the main character, but she does play a minor role in all of this. 

**Chapter 1_:_ Mama Mia!**

It's a beautiful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun is shining brightly, the gentle breeze is sweeping across the land, and Bowser is nowhere in sight. As the sun casts its warmth on the ground one must think, "How can this day be any more perfect?" 

At the royal palace, Mario and Luigi, the famous and well respected Mario brothers, and Princess Peach are happily enjoying the quiet time. Yoshi, a green dinosaur that was a long-time friend of the Mario brothers, had decided to come for a visit. Currently, they were all just lounging around in the castle courtyard, admiring the peace. 

"Isn't it wonderful to finally have some peace and quiet around here?" Peach asked. 

"Yeah, I'll say!" Mario exclaimed. "No Smithy, no Bowser, no problem!" 

"And anyway," Luigi added happily. "If Bowser did decide to show up, we would kick his sorry butt!" 

Peach and Yoshi both had to laugh at Luigi's comment. It was true that no matter how many times Bowser tried to defeat Mario and take over the Mushroom Kingdom, he never succeeded. Though Bowser was a force to be feared, it was simply pathetic to know how many times Mario had beaten him. The mushroom people had always counted on Mario to be there for them when Bowser began causing chaos. Mario was their hero. 

_There I go again. _Luigi thought. _I'm starting to become jealous of Mario. He's the hero, he's the one that people count on to rescue them, he's the one that gets all the credit. It's always Mario, Mario, Mario! And I'm the one that's always standing in the shadows; the one left in the background. _Luigi stopped thinking for a second. No that wasn't exactly true. Luigi was greatly respected by many people and he was even an idol to some; some people thought that he was actually _better _than Mario. There _was_ one person that didn't see Luigi as second best or just a nobody. In her eyes, Luigi was _her_ hero and saw him for who he really was. Her name was Princess Daisy of Sarasaland. 

Daisy. His own lovely equivalent to Peach. Gorgeous chestnut-brown hair, blue eyes that shone like diamonds, and a goldenrod-yellow dress that only enhanced her beauty. According to Mario, he had saved her and her kingdom from the clutches of an evil alien named Tatanga a while back. Sometime later, Peach organised a tennis tournament, which was where Luigi had first met Daisy. It turns out that, being royalty, she and Peach knew each other and Peach had invited her to participate in the tournament. 

Daisy wasn't the only unexpected guest. Bowser and one of his Boos wanted in, too. Wario, a rival and extremely bad look-alike had showed up with his brother, Waluigi, a rival of Luigi. 

Anyway, he and Daisy had become real close and were now dating. Luigi only wished that Mario would do the same with Peach. Luigi had always seen himself as a very shy person, but how he had worked up the courage to ask Daisy out the first time was way beyond him. Mario however, had never gotten around to doing that and had become way too nervous. Luigi knew that Mario loved her, but if only he would just ask her. It wasn't for him to decide; he would leave the choice up to Mario. 

"I think I'll go and visit Daisy. It's been a while since I've seen her." Luigi declared. He stood up, waved his friends good-bye, and headed off to the nearest warp-pipe. 

After his departure, Peach suddenly got an idea. "How about we play a round of tennis?" She suggested. "I can go and grab Toad and we can play doubles. How does that sound?" 

"Yoshi!" Yoshi cried out in agreement. "I think it's a great idea!" 

"Sure, there's nothing else to do."Mario grinned; it had been a long time since he had last played tennis. 

"Let's play!" 

~~~~ 

Bowser sat in his fortress thinking of more ideas to beat Mario. So far, he hadn't thought of any. Kidnapping Peach had seemed to have grown old and repetitive, but it was the only thing he could think of. Normally he would turn to Kamek, his best and wisest magikoopa for advice, but he was off doing some errand. His seven koopa kids Lemmy, Iggy, Larry, Morton, Ludwig, Roy, and Wendy had all taken a crack at battling Mario, but they all lost and were now training harder. 

Originally, his plan had been to lead the mushroom people into a false sense of security with all of his fair play in tennis and golf tournaments but his big problem was plotting a big enough catastrophe that would surely rattle the Mushroom Kingdom. 

"Ugh. Where is Kamek when you need him?" Bowser grumbled. Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared and in it was his most trusted advisor Kamek. 

"You called, your Evilness?" He said bowing. 

"Wha?! Kamek?! How did you get here?!" Kamek raised a hand to silence him. "Questions, questions. Now what is it?" 

"I need a plan to beat Mario for once! I turn to you as my advisor and chief magikoopa, HELP ME!!" He emphasized the last two words by pounding his fist on his throne. 

Kamek let out an evil chuckle. "Well. . . I have a plan that just might work if done properly." 

Bowser looked a little apprehensive about his last statement. "And if it doesn't?" 

Kamek just shrugged. "If it doesn't, which is very likely, you'll probably end up mutated and deformed." 

"Alright, let's hear it, Kamek." Kamek began to whisper something in Bowser's ear. "Yeah. Uh huh. Oh. Yes. YES! That's perfect! This'll beat Mario for sure! Muahahahah!" 

~~~~ 

Master Hand appeared on the other side of the portal in a world he didn't recognize. 

"Hm. This place seems rather quaint. But no longer." Master Hand chuckled. Now was the time to set his plan in motion. He flew off in the direction of what looked to be castle. 

Arianna appeared not a moment later only to see that Master Hand had already taken off. She glanced around the countryside seeing some minor destruction in the distance. "Good. I'm not too late." She sighed. "But Master Hand has a big lead on me. Now to find out where I am." 

She ran down a long road and eventually came across a small town. The people in it seemed rather shaken and some of the buildings were trashed. No doubt Master Hand was here a few moments ago. Just then a small mushroom-like being scurried by her. 

_I must be in the Mushroom Kingdom. _She thought. 

"Um, excuse me?" She asked. The mushroom let out a yelp and spun around. She must've scared the poor thing. 

"Stay back, you vile creature!" It shouted. Arianna had to laugh at the little guy's bravery. She could tell that it was trying so hard to be brave but at the same time was cowering in fear. 

"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want want to find out where I am and what happened here. Could you tell me?" She smiled warmly at the mushroom person hoping to receive an answer. 

Arianna could tell that the Toad was a little frightened by her; after all, she was an outsider. She didn't look very threatening, but the Toads were already at their wits end because of Master Hand. The Toad scanned Arianna from the bottom up considering how short he was. Arianna was a very pretty young woman. She had long shoulder length hair tied into a ponytail and emerald green eyes that shone of determination. A small sword (or a very long dagger) was sheathed at her waist and a long wooden staff was strapped to her back. The strangest item in her inventory though was a pair of metal vambraces around her forearms. Each one had a large jewel embedded in it, but its color seemed to change very subtly. For some reason they had an almost magical aura around them. 

The Toad relaxed a little bit. "You don't look very harmful. . .so I guess I'll tell you." Arianna smiled happily. "A giant hand came out of nowhere and attacked us before heading towards the castle saying "I must find the chosen warrior from this world." Or something like that." 

Arianna's eyes flashed for a moment. "You said it was heading for the castle, right?" The Toad nodded. "Which way is it?" The Toad pointed her to a large castle a couple of miles away. "Thanks." 

By will alone, Arianna made the color of the crystals in her wristbands shift from red to yellow. The crystals flashed a bright light for second before Arianna sped off at high speeds. Arianna had the power to use the elements as weapons and could enhance her abilities. She could use 7 elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Ice, Light, and Shadow. She had used the power of Wind to increase her speed. 

She just hoped that she could make it to the castle in time before Master Hand had a chance to do something horrible. 

~~~~ 

"It looks like Peach and I-a win again!" Mario shouted happily. 

"Aw, do ya have to rub it in?" Toad moaned. 

"Don't feel bad, Toad." Peach said comfortingly. "Maybe you'll win next time!" 

Just then a rumbling sound was heard. 

"Oh Mariooooo! Look who's come to play!" 

Mario, Peach, Yoshi, and Toad turned around to see Bowser, who was twice his normal size, standing there grinning. 

"Fight me, Mario! This time I'll beat you once and for all! Bwahahahaha!" 

Just as Mario and Yoshi prepared to fight Bowser, something flew in and knocked Bowser far away, Team Rocket style. 

"Gaaaaaaah! I'll remember this, Mariooo!" Now that Bowser had been dealt with, they turned towards the newcomer: a giant gloved hand. 

"And-a just who are you?" Mario asked. 

It chuckled. "I am Master Hand. And youand your dinosaur friend are just the people I'm looking for." 

Before Mario and Yoshi had time to comprehend Master Hand's statement, they were knocked back by Master Hand's flying fist. 

"If this guy's gonna fight rough, we'll show him rough! Right, Yoshi?" 

"Yoshi!" 

While Master Hand was standing still, Yoshi jumped into the air and did a hip drop while Mario threw a barrage of fireballs. Seeing that they weren't affecting him much, Mario spun around like a tornado then performed a Super Jump Punch. Yoshi jumped up above Master Hand and did several devastating flutter kicks. Master Hand backed away. 

_These fools are better than I thought. . ._ Shaking off his thoughts Master Hand flew up and smashed them into the ground with his fist, knocking them unconscious. 

"Oh no, Mario!" Peach cried. Master Hand picked thm up off the ground and flew above the castle. 

"This is where I shall take my leave, Princess. I will enjoy torturing your precious hero!" The ground underneath the castle began to shake and Peach and Toad quickly escaped to safer ground. Master Hand was lifting up the castle! 

_My dark portal should have finished altering the dimension. I'll just drop these two off there and continue my search. _Master Hand thought. 

Arianna came out of her speed burst in time to see Master Hand making off with Peach's castle with Mario and Yoshi in his grasp. 

"You're too late, portal guardian! There is nothing you can do to prevent the chaos that will fall upon this world! Farewell, guardian!" Master Hand let out a maniacal laugh as he vanished in red light. 

Peach turned to Arianna. "Who are you and how do you know that creep?" She demanded. 

"I'm Arianna, the guardian of the portals. How I know about Master Hand is a long story." Arianna looked up into the sky and looked back at Peach. "Do you have any other heroes that can protect you other than Mario and Yoshi? There's going to be a lot of monsters running around now that the portals are open." 

"How do you?. . ." 

Arianna sighed. "Like I said; I'm the guardian of the portals, so I know the names of every hero. So are you going to answer my question?" 

"No, there are no other heroes except. . ." Arianna motioned for her to continue. "Luigi." 

"Luigi? You mean Mario's brother? Where is he?" 

"He's visiting his girlfriend, Daisy. I'll go call him right away!" Peach said. 

"You go do that. I have to go; I have to try and stop Master Hand and prevent him from getting anyone else!" 

With that said, Arianna teleported out in a flash of light. 

Peach looked up at the sky. "Good-bye, Arianna. Good luck." 

~~~~ 

End of Chapter 1 


	3. Chapter 2: The Green Knight

Disclaimer: All of the characters from Super Smash Bros. don't belong to me but to their respective companies. The only character I own is Arianna. She isn't the main character, but she does play a minor role in all of this. 

A/N: I am SOOO sorry people! It took a while, but my inspiration has returned! I'll try to update as often as I can. I promise you I will not give up on this fic. In case you want to know, I'm trying to make this story as accurate to the games as possible. So if anything seems a little weird don't hesitate to tell me. 

On another note, this chapter takes place AFTER Legend of Zelda: OoT but before MM. For those who don't know (or if your memory needs to be refreshed) at the end of Ocarina, Link was sent back to his past to relive the years he lost when he was sealed in the Temple of Time, thus, leading us into Majora. Since time travel can screw up the timeline, I've made it so that Majora never happened to 'Adult' Link. Instead, he just lived the 7 years like a normal kid. Confusing? Let me simplify it. Link's time travel screwed up the 'space-time continuum', creating an alternate Hyrule. When he was sent back at the end of Ocarina, his other self made a different choice and decided to search for navi. This sorta explains Y. Link's presence in Melee. 

Ahem. Now then. ON TO THE STORY! 

**Chapter 2: Time's Hero **

Master Hand appeared back in the dimension he was imprisoned in to drop off his new captives. But the place was not what it once was. 

Master Hand had used his evil powers to alter it into a dark fortress. On the outside it looked like a simple building, but on the inside was a maze of hallways and many strange looking rooms. 

Master Hand had dropped Mario and Yoshi in a dungeon-like room with several machines and computers. The prison that held the heroes had bars made out of some sort of energy so that it would be impossible to escape. 

Master Hand once again used the Staff of Power to create another portal. The destination: Hyrule. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Arianna landed on the ground with little more than a soft 'thump'. It took a little while for her to take in her surroundings and realize where she was. She was in Hyrule; the Kokiri Forest to be exact. It had been so long since she had last laid her eyes on this place that she had almost forgotten its beauty. Even at night, the forest lost none of its magnificence. Since it was nighttime, many of the Kokiri children were in their homes, which would make Arianna's task of finding the one she was looking for all the more easier. No use in gaining unwanted attention. 

Arianna listened quietly to the sound of the chirping crickets and heard a faint melody being carried on the wind. Knowing the one she was searching for would be playing the melody, she followed the music deeper into the woods. As the music got louder Arianna could see a figure silhouetted against the starry sky. Even though it was dark she could still make out his features in the moonlight. Short golden hair, sharp eyes, and pointed ears. If Arianna had never seen him before, she would've sworn that he was an elf. The colors of his clothes would've also suggested the same. He wore, a green tunic over white undergarments of some sort, tall boots made of leather, gauntlets around his wrists, and a green cap on his head. Arianna guessed that the young man was no more than seventeen years old. 

The young man in question had his eyes closed with a small instrument pressed to his lips, playing the melody she had been hearing. An ocarina. She waited until he had finished playing before she approached him. 

"It's a beautiful song." She said. The startled look on his face told her that she had taken him by surprise. 

"I didn't know I had an audience." He replied. It took her a few moments to realize that the young man had several weapons strapped to his back; a sword, a shield, a boomerang, a bow and a quiver full of arrows, some bombs, and something that looked like a grappling hook. He made no move to draw them, however. 

"So, what's it called?" Arianna asked. 

"It's called 'Zelda's Lullaby'." He replied. 

"Ah. . . . So, your name's Link, right?" 

Link raised a blond eyebrow. "How do _you_know that?" 

Arianna chuckled. "Would you believe me if I told you that I'm a Portal Guardian that's trying to prevent universal annihilation?" 

The Hylian's look changed from one of suspicion to one of confusion. "I didn't understand even HALF of the words you just said, but somehow I believe you." 

"Really? Do you have some sort of sixth sense or something?" 

"No." Link said. "Princess Zelda, the ruler of Hyrule. She had a vision about you. She said that you would appear at this very spot asking me to join you on a quest of significant importance." 

Arianna remained silent for several moments, surprised that Hyrule's princess was able to predict her arrival. ". . . I guess I won't have to say much to convince you into helping me, then." 

Link shook his head. "Why don't you tell me the details of your quest? I need to know exactly what we're going up against." 

Yoshi opened his eyes only to see nothing but darkness. He was frightened, but he calmed down once his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He was even more relieved to find Mario with his back to a wall, staring out at nothing. It took a few minutes before Yoshi realized where they were. They were locked in what looked like a high-tech cell. The walls and floor were made of a cold, dull gray metal, and the only light that illuminated the area came from the cell's bars, which were pulsing with ominous purple energy. 

Mario noticed that Yoshi was finally awake and crawled over to him. 

"Yoshi, you're up." He said. "Are you all right?" 

"Yoshi fine." He replied. "Where are we?" 

Mario let out a long breath and glanced at the bars. "I don't know, but we're going to do whatever we can to get out of here. I'm going to need your help, though." 

Mario led him the the front of the cell until he could clearly see a dim hallway. Yoshi couldn't see the reason why Mario brought him there, but he waited patiently for him to reveal his plan. 

"You see that panel over there?" The red clad plumber pointed to a large metal panel on the wall opposite the cell. Buttons of assorted colors covered the panel, but only one of them, a large blue one, was glowing. "That button; it may be the one that gives power to the bars on our cell. If we press it, we just might be able to escape." 

It seemed simple enough, but it didn't explain why Mario needed Yoshi. 

"Yoshi don't understand." He groaned. "Mario didn't tell Yoshi why he needs him." 

"I'll tell you now. You know I can't reach the panel. I've tried my fireballs, but they don't seem to do much of anything!" Yoshi nodded and let Mario continue. "Yoshi, your tongue just might be long enough to reach it." 

Yoshi stared at him, finally understanding what Mario was getting at. He nodded with determination. 

"Alright. Yoshi will try." 

Yoshi reared back his head, then thrust it forward, his long tongue quickly making its way across the small hallway. The end of his tongue hit the button with a wet smack before it returned to Yoshi's mouth. Nothing happened. Mario and Yoshi then heard a loud hum and the bars of energy disappeared. 

Mario's expression perked up. "Yes! You did it, Yoshi!" He cheered. 

A swirling blue portal immediately appeared in front of them. The two heroes gazed into it, debating whether or not to enter it. 

"Do we go in?" Yoshi inquired. "It only way out of here." 

Mario wasn't listening. The entire builing had been relatively silent with the exception of the humming noise the bars had given off a minute ago, but the only sound breaking the silence now was the sound of slow, heavy 

footsteps. But they didn't sound like _normal _footsteps. 

_Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!_

It sounded like metal. They were faint, but Mario was sure he heard them. 

"Mario?" 

"Shh!" 

"What? What is it?" 

"Do you hear that?" Yoshi listened intently. He nodded. He could hear it, too. "Whatever it is, it's getting closer!" 

_CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!_

Without waiting for a reply, Mario grabbed Yoshi's hand and dove into the blue void. 

As the figure rounded the corner and into the holding area, it saw nothing unusual. It walked down the hall, its footfalls making a metallic noise as they hit the ground, until it came upon Mario and Yoshi's empty cell. It scanned the cell with its emotionless eyes and then left to attend to other duties. It wasn't capable of much thought, but all it knew at the moment was that Master Hand wasn't going to be very pleased. 

"Hm. An interesting story." 

Arianna had just finished telling Link about Master Hand, the Staff of Power, and his plot to dominate the universe. It was a highly condensed version of her story, but Link understood every word perfectly. 

"So," He muttered. Link began pacing around, trying to sort everything out. "You're name's Arianna? And you're a Portal Guardian; you protect the barriers of time and space." 

"Correct." She said. 

Link now had his hand to his chin. "Now, this Master Hand stole the Staff of Power. It keeps the barriers of the different worlds in place, you say. So if the Staff is gone-" 

"The dimensions are no longer separated and people can travel between them." Arianna continued. "Now that Master Hand has it, it won't take long before he has the entire universe in his grasp." 

"That doesn't sound good. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you this: What do you need _me_ for?" 

The Guardian sighed and sat herself on a large rock. "It's not just you I need. Master Hand grew more powerful when he stole the staff. I tried to fight him by myself, but I lost. My magic is strong, but my powers are limited even though I'm a goddess. That's why I'm looking for heroes like yourself to help me. The Hand is searching for heroes, too, only he wants to destroy them so they won't get in the way of his plans. He's already got Mario and Yoshi." 

Link opened his mouth to ask about the two heroes when a large blue vortex opened up in front of them. Arianna stood up and watched the portal with an intense gaze, not knowing if Master Hand would pop out. Instead of Master Hand, the portal spat out a man in a red shirt and blue overalls, and a green dinosaur. 

"Mario?! Yoshi?!" She exclaimed. 

"That'sa me!" He said cheerily. "Who are you?" 

"Long story." A Arianna replied. "I'm Arianna, a Portal Guardian. This is Link, Hero of Time." 

Link waved to the plumber. "I'm assuming you're Mario, nice to meet you. Who's your friend?" 

"Oh, him?" Mario motioned to Yoshi. "That's Yoshi. He can't speak english very well, but it's good enough to understand. You! Arianna, right? How do you know our names?" 

"Like I stated; it's a _very_ long story." She grumbled. "But let me put it this way: there's a very bad guy who's trying to take over the universe and is going to destroy every last hero until no one can stand against him. So, I'm gathering as many heroes as I can to stop him. Got it?" 

Mario nodded. Suddenly, maniacal laughter filled the air. Behind them was Master Hand himself. 

"Very good story, Guardian." He said, his voice filled with mock praise. "I'm really disappointed that you portrayed me as the villain. The way you described me was all wrong! Ahahahahaha!" 

"Link," Arianna whispered. "That's him! That's Master Hand!" 

"Haha! You've made this too easy for me, Guardian. With four of you in one place, I can eliminate you all with plenty of time left to conquer the universe!" 

"Not if we can help it!" Mario yelled. "If it's the universe you want, you'll have to get through us first!" 

Master Hand chuckled. "After what I did to you last time, do you really think you can beat me?" 

"Why don't you come and try it?!" Link aimed his bow and fired an arrow at the Hand, making twitch with pain. 

Mario and Yoshi took the opportunity to hit Master Hand with everything they had. Yoshi jumped up high and Flutter Kicked him, while Mario threw Fireballs. Link kept on assaulting him with bombs, arrows, and his boomerang, but once he got tired of that he went in close and started slashing with the Master Sword. Arianna helped them out from afar with her magic blasts. 

A Spin Attack from Link wore him down to his last legs. Master Hand let out a cry of frustration and shook them all off. 

"You haven't seen the last of me! My army is more than ready to take over; you're only delaying the inevitable! The universe WILL be mine!" 

Master Hand then vanished in a flash if white light, laughing. 

"C'mon." Arianna declared. "We should go to Nexia, my world. We can prepare for our next move there. Mario, I'll explain everything to you and Yoshi once we arrive." 

Arianna then opened up a portal to her home world and left with Link, Mario, and Yoshi to plan what to do next. 

Like in chess, the game had begun and the pieces were being moved. The only difference was that one side still had many pieces to gain, and the other was trying to prevent that from ever happening. With the entire universe hanging in the balance, losing is not an option. 

END OF CHAPTER 

A/N: Did you like it? In response to those of you who reviewed already, Samus and Kirby will be coming soon. I might have to introduce the Smashers in twos for some chapters to get the story moving. Since I know virtually NOTHING about the Metroid universe, the Samus chapter will take a while to write. 

Suggestions are welcome as long as it doesn't include killing off characters. Don't forget to review! You'd be surprised at how motivating it is. 

This is GoldAngel signing off! 


	4. Chapter 3: New Accquaitances

**Chapter 3: New Acquaintances**

Luigi hopped out of of the warp pipe to the sight of what could only be described as sheer chaos. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was setting rapidly. Toads were running away from monstrous creatures, screaming in terror. Several, from what Luigi could see, looked like giant wolves. Many of the features were odd but they were wolves nonetheless. 

Another strange creature was a small crocodile with rows of large teeth that were bigger than its eyes. As Luigi hopped over one he reasoned that they might not be much of a threat; they moved rather slow and could be outrun. 

Luigi sped up his pace to a slow jog. He rounded the corner and saw a robed figure blasting the monsters into oblivion with his magic. It was Toad Town's resident fortune teller, Merlon. Luigi knew him, of course, but not as well as Mario did. Merlon had helped Mario on his journey to retrieve the Star Rod from Bowser by telling him what path to take. As with all fortune tellers, Merlon's answers were always vague and mysterious, so you had to figure them out for yourself. 

"Merlon!" Luigi yelled. "What is going on here?!" 

Merlon threw another energy blast that turned a wolf into ashes. With a satisfied grunt he turned to Luigi. 

"You are Luigi, correct?" Merlon asked. 

Luigi nodded. "Merlon, what's going on here? What _are_ all these things?" 

Though much of his face was shadowed by his hood, Merlon's yellow eyes narrowed in thought. "I do not know exactly what these creatures are or where they came from, but what I _do_ know is that the Mushroom Kingdom is in great danger. These monsters. . . They are definitely not from this world." 

Luigi raised an eyebrow. "Not from this world? What're you talking about?" 

Merlon's eyes darkened. "When one possesses great powers, they are more connected to the balance of the universe. This connection, a sixth sense as some call it, alerts those with great power to danger. Do you understand what I am getting at?" 

"Yeah, I think I do." Luigi replied. "Mario always talked to me about something like that. He told me that whenever Peach got captured, something always told him that she was in trouble. I've felt it too sometimes. Is that what you're talking about?" 

Merlon nodded, his amber eyes still fixed on Luigi. "Similar to that. Tell me, have you felt anything lately?" 

"Come to think of it, yes, I have." The green plumber replied, scratching his chin. "Right when I arrived at Daisy's I felt this strange sensation; it was like a little bolt of electricity went off in my head. That's when I knew something was wrong, so I came back." 

The cloaked wizard's expression was hard to decipher. He heaved a huge, heavy sigh and continued talking. "Luigi, lately I have felt an unsettling disturbance and I believe that the balance of the universe has been disrupted." 

Luigi rubbed his eyes. "'Balance of the universe?'" 

"It is difficult to explain and I'm afraid that I haven't got time at this very moment. For now, though, we must protect the Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps we may find some answers later. I will take care of things here, you must go to the castle and protect the princess." 

"Sure thing, Merlon! Good luck to you." Luigi said. 

"You too, Luigi." With that said, the man in green bolted off toward the castle with Merlon watching him as he went. 

The old wizard didn't know why, but he had a strange feeling that Luigi had a mcuh larger role to play in the outcome of this plot. 

"Wow, this place is amazing!" 

Mario gaped at the large elegant room they had been transported to. The floor looked like polished marble and the walls were made of smooth, white stone. Lining the walls were dozens of stained-glass windows, each one with a different person depicted on it. Oddly enough, the first one Mario laid his eyes on was one of himself in a jumping pose, one arm raised. He also recognized three others. Luigi's and Yoshi's were right next to Mario's, and Link's was on the wall across from them. Mario's gaze shifted from one pane to another, noting the figures present in each one. A yellow rodent, a pink puffball, and a humanoid fox were among the ones he didn't recognize. 

Arianna cleared her throat, bringing Mario's attention to the room's contents. The room was filled with various machines and monitors. All of the screens displayed different data on places he'd never heard about in his entire life. Hyrule? Coneria? Kanto? Those names didn't ring any bells. 

"I'll just be a few minutes, guys." Arianna stated. "I just need to bring up some files." 

Mario and Yoshi simply nodded. The red-clad plumber tossed a glance at their new companion, Link. The young man's eyes were wide with wonder at the machines that were in front of him. Link obviously had never seen a computer, or _any_ machine for that matter, before. 

The portal guardian looked up from her work for a split-second to see the pointy-eared hero slowly edging toward the console with his shield up. Arianna did her best to subdue a giggle. 

"Don't worry, it's not gonna hurt you." She said comfortingly. To emphasize her point she pounded the terminal with her fist. "See? It's harmless." 

Link hesitantly lowered his shield and came closer. "What is it? I've never seen anything like it in Hyrule." 

Arianna smiled warmly. "It's called a computer. I just tell it what to do by pressing a few buttons here, then it will show me the information I need on that screen." 

"It's alive?" Link questioned, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. 

The Guardian tried to stop herself from laughing but ended up making a weird snorting sound. "No, it's not alive. It gets its power from electricity." 

As Arianna continued her work, Link kept on asking her questions on how a computer operated. Despite Link's constant stream of questions, she managed to finish finding the files she was looking for. 

"All right!" The guardian exclaimed. Mario and Yoshi made their way over from the other side of the room. "Ah, I see you've taken an interest in my windows. Welcome to the Hall of Heroes, gentlemen." 

"Windows are very pretty." Yoshi commented. 

"Thank you, Yoshi." 

After finally taking notice of the colorful panes, the young Hylian spotted one that depicted himself. "Why are our pictures on them?" He asked. 

"Ah, yes. I was getting to that." Arianna said. "I'll keep it simple, seeing as I will have to explain it to everyone else once we find them." 

"Everyone else?" Mario inquired. "You mean there's more of us?" 

"I'll get to that. Just lemme explain and you won't get confused!" She replied sternly. "As I said, this is the Hall of Heroes. This is the place where I monitor the progress of every hero. Normally this place is buzzing with activity, but the people that usually help me are helping someone else right now. I'm Arianna; the portal guardian put in charge of of your universe. There are other universes in this building, but they're not run by me. You can't go up to see them, though. If you did it would cause a huge imbalance in the workings of the universe. So, you're limited to wandering around this level of the building; the N-Universe. 

What I do here in the Hall of Heroes is a little hard to understand. Have you ever heard of stories where the bad guy wins, kills the hero, and gets to rule the world? Nah, I guess not. Well, I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen. Whenever a new evil rises in one world, I make sure that there's a good force to counter it; a hero. This person then goes on a quest to destroy the evil. I watch them carefully, and set out paths for them. I mostly just let things play out, but I also make sure that the good guy doesn't die or get defeated. Heroes only lose to learn a vuluable lesson: they are still human and the danger is very real for them. It's not a good thing to have an overly-arrogant hero. 

I almost never let a hero die. When things look bleak I step in by creating a small miracle that'll tip the scales in their favor. The only time I let a hero die is if my boss tells me to. The reason for that is that there may be something good that will come out of the death of a hero. When a hero dies, another stronger one will take its place and pick up where the first one left off. Those windows up there represents each hero in this universe. There are more, of course. I'll show you later. 

Now I'll explain why you're here. You already know about Master Hand, right? Well, somehow he escaped from his world and stole a very powerful staff from me. I was told that the staff kept the universe in perfect balance. When Master Hand stole it and began using it, he started disrupting the balance. If things keep going as they are the universe will destroy itself. Since Master Hand has become much more powerful with the staff, I had to find a group of heroes to fight him. You guys are just three of them. Will you three help me defeat him?" 

Mario pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah, of course we'll help!" 

Yoshi nodded enthusiastically. "Yoshi will help Arianna! We won't let big hand destroy universe!" 

"I will help you, too." Link said. "With the universe on the line, I'll do evrything in my power to help stop Master Hand." 

"Thank you, guys." Arianna smiled warmly. "Since you'll be here often, I might as well show you around. First stop: the Library!" 

"Go away, you disgusting creature!" 

Peach swung her frying pan with all her might. The frying pan connected with the wolf's head, knocking it senseless. Even though the hit was strong enough to knock a human unconscious the wolf still advanced. The princess screamed and struggled with it for a while. 

"TOAD!!!" She shrieked. 

"Coming, Princess!" 

A little man wearing a mushroom-like hat was running towards her. The mushroom on his head was white with red spots, and he wore a blue vest. This little guy was Toad, Peach's retainer. 

Toad stopped right in front the wolf and blew a cloud of poisonous spores at it. The hound went rigid and collapsed in heap. Peach breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Thank you, Toad. Where would I be without you?" 

The little mushroom blushed. "No problem at all, princess." 

Almost immediately, more monsters attacked. Peach's guards already had their hands full, so she was left to fend for herself. 

_Luigi, where are you?_

Peach had tried to call Luigi and Daisy in Sarasaland with no success. She did, however manage to talk to one of Daisy's retainers. He said that Daisy and Luigi weren't there and that they had left for the Mushroom Kingdom. At least that was a bit of good news. 

A large group of crocodiles stomped toward her. These ones were different from the other crocs. The ones she had seen before were tiny, but these guys were huge. They stood on two feet and were very muscular. One of them grinned maliciously at her. 

"Get 'er, boys" It ordered. The other cocodiles erupted in a roar of cheers and then charged. Peach knew she couldn't fight them all off with just a frying pan. 

When they were only three feet away, a few of them were struck by fireballs. Green fireballs. The wave of crocodiles turned to look at the new arrival. 

"Luigi! Daisy!" Peach cried. 

"Daisy, stay with Peach." Luigi ordered. "I'll take care of these guys." 

The brunette in yellow nodded and rushed over to the blonde princess, a golf club in hand. 

"Don't worry, Peach!" Daisy yelled. "The cavalry's here!" 

Behind Luigi a large squadron of Daisy's guards sprang forward and began attacking. Luigi was in the middle of all the action blasting the bad guys with a fire flower. Peach and Daisy were at the edges of the battle, whacking anything that got too close. 

"It's about time you got here!" The Mushroom princess said. 

"Sorry," Daisy apologized. "But I needed to find some equipment." She pointed to the small bag on her back. Along with the golf club she was using, she had brought a tennis racket and a baseball bat. "No harm in being prepared." 

"All right. Let's go!" 

Arianna had just finished giving the three heroes a tour of her base of operations. First she had taken them to the library, which was full of old books. There were also many of the same stained-glass windows from outside in the library. Arianna told them that all of the books were legends, histories, and texts on weapons, items, and spells from each world. 

Next, she showed them the dorms. The rooms were obviously for them. The portal guardian had led them there in case they planned on staying a while. She also showed them the kitchen, much to Yoshi's delight. Lastly, she showed them the portal room. The portals were shaped like arched doorways, and each one had a symbol and name above it signifying what the world was. The portals themselves looked like silvery mirrors when undisturbed, but when touched they transformed into large window that showed the world's landscape. 

When they returned to the Hall of Heroes, Arianna frowned at a strange buzzing noise. She approached a console with a flickering red light and typed in a few things. After a few moments, a map was displayed on the giant screen on the side of the room. Arianna stared hard at the words that appeared on the large screen. They read: 

DIMENSIONAL ABNORMALITY DETECTED 

UNKNOWN FOREIGN CREATURES SPOTTED 

LONCATION: MUSHROOM KINGDOM 

Mario let out a surpised gasp. "What's going on?! What's wrong with the Mushroom Kingdom?!" 

Arianna stared at the computer screen. "A dimensional abnormality is a strange occurrence between the worlds that normally doesn't happen. In this case, creatures that aren't native to the world the Mushroom Kingdom is in are appearing when they shouldn't be. It can be very dangerous if they don't know how to fight them." 

A loud beep caused the portal guardian to look at the new set of information. "I think I might know where those creatures are coming from. A portal has opened up in Hyrule and in a place called Kongo Island. The monsters must have been going through it to get to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario, Yoshi, go to the portal room and get to the Mushroom Kingdom. You can let Peach know that you're all right. Link and I will go to Hyrule to close the portal we'll meet you in the Mushroom Kingdom once we do. Is that understood?" 

"Okey dokey!" Mario said. "Come on, Yoshi! We're going home!" 

The red-capped plumber and the green dinosaur bounded towards the portal room with Link and Arianna close behind. 

As they entered the portal room the gateways to the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule opened. 

"Yahooooo!" Mario's voice echoed as he and Yoshi disappeared through the portal. 

Arianna shot a glance at Link. "Are you ready for this?" 

He smiled. "I've looked evil in the face once before. This shouldn't be too hard." 

The Guardian laughed. "All right, then! Let's do this!" 

Arianna and Link vanished through the Hyrule portal the same way Mario and Yoshi did through the Mushroom Kingdom one. The quest had begun. 

"Hyaaah!" 

"Take this!" 

Peach and Daisy had just double-teamed a large crocodile, who were revealed to be called 'Krushas.' Peach nailed him in the head with her frying pan and Daisy whacked him across the back with her golf club. The Krusha sank to the floor with a moan, then disappeared in a shower of green sparkles. 

Peach stood ready to attack the next opponent. Daisy stared at her now ruined golf club. The club was bent from hitting the tough hide of the Krusha. Frustrated, she put the weapon away in her bag and drew her trusty tennis racket. 

Daisy's lead guard made his way over to her. "Princess Daisy!" He yelled over the noise. "I highly suggest that you and Princess Peach retreat and leave the fighting to us soldiers; it will be much safer." 

Daisy shook her head and politely refused. "I'm staying whether you like it or not, Captain. If Luigi fights, so do I!" 

The captain shrugged and dashed off into the fray. 

Luigi's starman had just run out, but he had barreled through an entire line of Krushas. As he wiped the sweat of his brow he suddenly felt the need to dodge something. Oddly enough, a shadow had appeared just above him. A quick glance behind revealed a very large Krusha who was holding what appeared to be a very large barrel over its head. Just as it was about to toss the barrel, a red fireball streaked through the air and hit the Krusha square in the head. The impact was enough to weaken the Krusha's grip on his heavy load and sent it crashing down on its head. 

"Here we go!" A familiar voice cried. 

Peach turned to the direction the voice was coming from. The princess' eyes widened with joy. "MARIO! YOSHI! You're alright!" 

Now that Mario and Yoshi had returned. The rest of the battle would become a lot easier, but it wouldn't be over until the portal Arianna had mentioned was closed. 

Sorry to leave you off there. I know I haven't updated in a while, but I'm writing this thing as I go. Now that school's over for me I can guarantee faster updates (hopefully). Anyway, next chapter we'll be following Link and Arianna as they attempt to close the portal in Hyrule. Their task won't be as easy as it sounds, however. I may even introduce another smasher! You'll just need to wait and see in CHAPTER 4: Backtracking. 

This is GoldAngel signing off! 


End file.
